A Thorn in the Flesh

A Thorn in the Flesh 
II Corinthians 12:7,  “And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”
            For centuries Christians have speculated about St. Paul’s thorn in the flesh.  Among the hypotheses is the belief that his thorn in the flesh was poor eyesight. This belief is predicated on Paul’s statement in Galatians 6:11 “Ye see what a large letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.”  We know that the epistle to the Galatians was not one of his longest letters, so some believe that he wrote in very large Greek letters because of his sight problem—i.e. his supposed thorn in the flesh.  However, no one has with any solid evidence concerning Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
            If St. Paul had been a choral director it probably would have been a soprano with an extremely strong piercing shrill voice who had a very wide vibrato.  It could have been a tenor who sang slightly under pitch or sang the soprano part an octave low.  It could have been a bass guitar player who always played I, IV V, I regardless of the chord progression of the song.
            Most church musicians have someone or something about their job that qualifies as a bona fide “thorn in the flesh”.  Sometimes ministering musicians feel that this person or situation is actually “the messenger of Satan”.  Do you have a thorn in the flesh where you minister?
            St. Paul’s attitude encourages me when I read II Corinthians 12:15, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.”  Being a minister of music is not about being loved and appreciated but rather about loving others and loving God enough to keep going even though there are things about your public ministry that are truly a thorn in the flesh.